Stories

Kiruba Krishnaswamy, a recent addition to the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the College of Engineering, focuses on preventing food loss and extracting useful resources from food waste (food security) and food fortification with micronutrients to prevent “hidden hunger” (nutrition security) using food process engineering and employing new tools like green nanotechnology.

Feb. 8, 2019

Feasting on Famine: Fighting ‘Hidden Hunger’ and Food Waste

Like many people, Kiruba Krishnaswamy loves to eat. She even calls herself a foodie, and she loves to explore the cuisines of different cultures. Despite her lifelong love of food, Krishnaswamy, an assistant professor of biological engineering, had never heard of food engineering before she went to college, but she was intrigued by it. Krishnaswamy intends to spend the next five to 10 years at MU building out a zero hunger inter-disciplinary research team to grapple with global challenges. Thus, her research group, named FEAST (Food Engineering and Sustainable Technologies), will consist of both food scientists and engineers from CAFNR…

Nov. 7, 2018

Pat Westhoff Named to Howard Cowden Professorship

Pat Westhoff has been named as the newest holder of the Howard Cowden Professorship. Dr. Westhoff is a professor of agricultural and applied economics, and the director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at MU. His contribution to agricultural policy is critical to agricultural cooperatives and their member-owners in Missouri and across the nation. Dr. Westhoff and his FAPRI colleagues also work regularly with congressional staffers and USDA leaders to evaluate proposed agricultural legislation intended to provide farmers with a solid economic footing. The professorship is named for Howard Cowden, a southwest Missouri native who started his cooperative career with…
When completed, the new $28.2 million East Campus Plant Growth Facility, on East Campus Drive across from the Trowbridge Livestock Center, will contain nearly 23,000 square feet of greenhouse space in three ranges, along with more than 9,300 square feet for controlled environment plant growth chambers. Photo courtesy Bill Lamberson/Robert Sharp.

Sep. 25, 2018

A Culture of Collaboration

For nearly 150 years, scientists from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri have contributed to advancements around the globe. Many have heard the story of Charles Valentine Riley, an MU professor and Missouri’s first state entomologist, who saved the French wine industry from decimation by an insect, the grape phylloxera. The aphid had destroyed nearly one-third of French wine grapes in 25 years and threatened to annihilate the entire industry within another decade. Riley’s rescue involved grafting French vines onto resistant American rootstock. Others know that Aureomycin, one of the world’s first antibiotics…

July 12, 2018

Jon Simonsen Earns Golden Apple Award

Students selected to be a part of the Litton Leadership Scholars cohort engage in a yearlong seminar course centered on leadership and impactful change. The students have the opportunity learn from Jon Simonsen, a stellar leader. “Simo,” as Simonsen’s students affectionately refer to him, was surprised with a Golden Apple Award from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources during a trip to Chillicothe, Missouri, on April 26, where members of the cohort meet with the Jerry Litton Family Memorial Foundation. Simonsen’s wife Michelle, along with colleague John Tummons and former professor from The Ohio State University, Robert Birkenholz, were there to watch a surprised Simonsen receive the award. Simonsen is an associate professor, chair and leads the graduate studies program for agricultural leadership, communication and education. He also serves as…
The University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) celebrated the 130th anniversary of Sanborn Field on Tuesday, July 24, on the MU campus. Sanborn Field is the oldest, continuous experimental field west of the Mississippi River and the third oldest in the world.

July 11, 2018

A Historic Celebration

The University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) celebrated the 130th anniversary of Sanborn Field on Tuesday, July 24, on the MU campus. There were discussions and presentations, as well as displays of historical equipment and photos, in Eckles Hall. There were tours of Sanborn Field, too. Sanborn Field is the oldest, continuous experimental field west of the Mississippi River and the third oldest in the world. “Not only was it the 130th anniversary of Sanborn Field, it was the 101st year of the Duley-Miller Erosion Plots and the 70th anniversary of the announcement of the…
Mike Byrne is one of the newest faculty members in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, arriving on campus in June 2017. The assistant professor of natural resources is an expert in the field of wildlife movement ecology. By learning more about why animals go where they go and do what they do, resource managers can improve conservation and species management efforts. Photo by Jason Jenkins.

May 11, 2018

Covering Their Tracks

Whether a creature has feathers, fur or fins, it really doesn’t matter to Mike Byrne. He just wants to know where it’s going and what it might do when it gets there. Byrne is one of the newest faculty members in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, arriving on campus in June 2017. The assistant professor of natural resources is an expert in the field of wildlife movement ecology. By learning more about why animals go where they go and do what they do, resource managers can improve conservation and species management efforts.
Chris Elsik, associate professor of plant and animal sciences, and fellow CAFNR researcher and geneticist Bob Schnabel, associate professor in the Division of Animal Sciences, are applying their knowledge and experience of cattle and dairy genetics to the issue of Varroa mites in honey bees. The duo looks at the bees simply as little livestock.

April 13, 2018

Breeding a Better Bee

The honey bee is as busy as ever. From almonds to zucchini, honey bees pollinate more than 90 agricultural crops in the United States — worth more than $15 billion annually. In 2017, the apiculture industry provided pollination services valued at nearly $320 million, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. In addition, the bees also produced almost 150 million pounds of honey. Armed with a four-year, nearly $1 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the CAFNR researchers will comb the honey bee genome in an attempt to find genetic markers predictive of resiliency…
Henry Nguyen, who led the research effort, worked with a group of scientists from MU, the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Pacific Biosciences, Bionano Genomics and Washington University, in addition to international collaboration with the University of Western Australia and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Their research led to the development of two soybean reference genomes, soybean cultivar

Feb. 15, 2018

The Miracle Bean

When the Human Genome Project began in 1990, the goal was to sequence and map all of the genes that make up the human DNA. That project was completed in 2003 – and genome projects on many other species followed in subsequent years. Several crops grown in Missouri soon underwent genetic sequencing and mapping, including soybeans. The first soybean cultivar to be sequenced, “Williams 82,” was published in 2010. This widely-grown cultivar was chosen to represent the northern United States germplasm. For nearly a decade, this cultivar has served as the main soybean reference genome – the sequence that gives…
Students and faculty look at scientific research posters.

Oct. 25, 2017

60 Years of Advice

What exactly does an Advisory Council do? If we look at the dictionary definition: “offering suggestions about the best course of action to someone”; “recommend”, or, “inform (someone) about a fact or situation, typically in a formal or official way”. The School of Natural Resources Advisory Council has done all of that and more. As the Advisory Council nears celebrating its 60th anniversary, a history lesson is needed to appreciate where it came from and look ahead to where it’s going. A history lesson The Advisory Council* had its origin in 1951 as the forestry subcommittee of the College of…
Portrait of Christopher Daubert

May 18, 2017

Christopher R. Daubert Named CAFNR Vice Chancellor & Dean

Christopher R. Daubert, currently professor and department head of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences and system co-chair of Food, Biochemical & Engineered Systems at North Carolina State University, has been named vice chancellor and dean of the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. He will join CAFNR effective Aug. 1. “The MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has strong people, programs and partnerships serving our land-grant heritage, making CAFNR such an attractive destination and opportunity for leadership,” Daubert said. “The faculty and staff are exceptional and dedicated, and CAFNR’s students are incredibly capable and well prepared…